Gothenberg Montreal and other scenes

I did some painting in Gothenberg Sweeden at a conference around 2010. Here is an embellished version of the scene with a bright blue sky, a few clouds, and a bright sun. The original painting had a gloomy pale overcast look to it, which was typical of the region in October. There was only like one hour of sunlight per day or something. The flanking buildings are actually from Montreal, I did those today over top of the Gothenberg painting. So this was done on two locations, about 15 years apart! 

Gothenberg Montreal, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

All Montreal, here are some nice trees in what I am calling Triangle park, its a small sliver of grass near the intersection of Blvd Decarie, Miasonneuve and Upper Lachine road near Vendome station. I take care of these trees by pulling vines and fertilizing them every few years. 

Triangle park greenery. watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

It was such a wonderful spot to stand and paint, with full warm sun, good sight-lines, and an asphalt path surrounded by grass and trees. Too bad the view is not slightly better, but I paint here a lot anyways. Its also half-way between where we live and downtown, so I stop here after work sometimes, or on the way back from a painting trip. There is also a water station nearby to fill up. The scene shows part of the long wall mural next to the bike path. 

Wall mural bike path, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

I stopped on the way back in front of Homer's donut store with a view of Bustan's Lebanese restaurant, and a popular Korean/Japanese grocery store in the background. I have this idea to paint a version of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, it would feature the Donut store at night on a perspective angle, with people sitting inside eating donuts. I will try to catch the scene one night, although they turn the lights off on closing which spoils the effect. If I can get the crescent moon over top it would be extra special. 

Bustan study, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

 

I wasn't going to post this one, it was the first of the day in Old Port and I was feeling a little lousy, then the moisture caught me off guard. Once the sun came out things got much more pleasant. I just stared at the scene for some time trying to settle in, then the colourful cart and turquoise hatchback car drove by at the same time and I had to try it.

Stone bridge cart cars, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

Mural street, Old Montreal

Down on  Rue de Boisbriand, murals are painted onto tall walls and old industrial structures. It looks like it used to be a large warehouse, now its storefronts that open onto nearby st Catherine street. Its the East part of downtown, you see more local people here not so many tourists. Rear doors are covered in a blue metal bonnet and staircases serve to hold pylons in this interesting scene. 

Blue bonnet pylons, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

I've been painting on backs of old paintings, and in some cases I paint over the front of it. This one was originally from a resort in Mexico I believe, but it could have been any beach full of birds. By superimposing an urban scene, it gives the impression of giant birds all over the place. Like the Alfred Hitchcock movie 'The Birds'. I added in a few extra birds for good measure. 

Back murals The Birds, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

An old loading dock is covered in colourful murals. Once this was where delivery trucks backed up and unloaded or loaded cargo, now its an artist's canvas. I copied the murals best I could, embellished my initials, and left off the top part of the two figures in the upper right, which had Frida Kahlo heads. 

Colourful murals loading dock, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

Switching neighborhoods to Old Montreal, where the tourists definitely do congregate, here is a scene of the bike path and Bonsecours dome in the background. Once day I will paint that thing perfectly, but not today! Its a real pain to get right but I will keep trying.

Bonsecours bike path, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

This scene is done from the same spot looking slightly to my left. Tall pine trees with a variety of greens provided a neat contrast against the pale green lamp post. The bike path was done with an indo blue (PB60) burnt yellow ochre (PR102) mix, blended into pale raw sienna (PBr7). Those three paint are excellent for covering the purplish grey and amber sandy tones. 

Pine trees bike path Bonsecours, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

Weekend digital dump

Using my knowledge of painting sunsets, I created this digital image on the powerful Sketchbook app. Sky texturing was done with an airbrush tool, while the sun and orbs were done with stamp tool which can be highly customized. 

Sunset with orbs, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Exploring the stamp tool, I learned that you can change the shape from a wide range of stock shapes, or even make a custom shape. Working through the options, I stamped out a windy swirl of shapes within my initials mixed in. 

Shapes in the wind, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Starting with a a near black background I applied neon patterns, overlaid with speckles, and textured with spatters and blurry background pops of light. Even my initials are done in neon!

Proto ectoplasm, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Flexing the neon brush tool some more, here is a goofy image in primary colours. I airbrushed tints in the background to give the appearance of glow, and shape-stamped some highlight sparkles here and there. 

Neon goof, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

A simpler image with neon brush strokes, its an eye with pink lashes in a blue frame. Some airbrush effect gave added glow. 

Eyelash neon, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Exploring other options I found a way to insert images into the artwork. So here I inserted the previous image, tilted it, and surrounded in fluorescent shapes with a light whirl. 

Eyelash light whirl, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000

Finally, a series of swirls done with a shape-stamp brush that can be dragged along, creating a chain of shapes. Some black elements around the edge and a black orb in the center completed a tye-dyed vortex effect. 

Gumdrop vortex, Sketchbook, digital 1600 x 2000 

 

Food Festival Peel Basin night

Down at the Peel Basin they are holding an annual Food Festival, where food carts occupy the main pier, and throngs of people go to enjoy the food and music. In the background you see the Farine Five Roses sign on the Maltage Factory. I used an interpretive style to emphasize colour, contrast and shapes.  

Food Fest Farine Five Roses, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Here is the scene from the bike path where it loops around, you see how this pier used to be where boats would load and unload cargo. I was painting under a yellow-orange light which makes colour hard to judge, blue and green will look greyish when you paint, so I adjusted a little. 

Food Fest Pier, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Last view of the Food Fest, looking at the crowd under those yellow-orange lights, with a purplish sky in the background. Once again I used interpretive brush strokes to emphasize colour and texture of the crowd rather than detail. 

Purple and orange food fest, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Looking west on st Catherine I got this view of all the night lights, cars, and multitudes of pedestrians. Its a hectic place to paint! I started with the lower portion doing colours and shapes, then worked upwards, and finished with the sky and additional dark shadows. As usual night sky is best painted with dark blue (PB60) mixed with pyrol orange (PO73). If you are a watercolour painter, its a combination worth trying out. Leaving a small dot in the sky made a star. There was just one or two stars visible. 

Downtown night lights, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

Circus tents, Bonsecours Market, bike path scenes

Getting down to the Old Port I made this painting of the Cirque du Soleil tents that are there every summer. This time its a circus called "Echo", this time its a circus called "Echo". Echo, echo... you get it. I included the pond in the foreground, its an artificial thing they fill up for tourists to paddle around during summer. It was windy today, and smoggy. 

Cirque du Soleil pond, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Bonsecours market is in the background, its a place where souvenirs are sold to tourists and locals... they have pretty high quality souvenirs in there including artwork and sculptures. On the right you see the zip line tower... people zip by every so often looking slightly terrified. I know somebody who would enjoy that but not me!

Bonsecours zip line, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Up on the Maisonneuve bike path I stopped in front of the bike shop next to Girouard and made this painting. Its a pale shade of dark yellow, made with yellow (PY154) plus black (PBk7) and a touch of green (PG7). I cropped the scene to make a more interesting composition. 

Bike shop billboard, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Looking west from the same spot I caught this view of the back alley of Swedish Auto. A tow tricks sits idle, with a green bin in the foreground. I changed the sign to PJD Auto, although the graffiti, which says "P.P. Weiner" was really there... really creative. Maybe its Swedish for common sense? I mean, weiner was not even spelled correctly, its Wiener. 

Swedish Auto, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Ferrari money, triangle park, bike path

Riding down Maisonneuve bike path, I stopped at the Girouard overpass and painted a scene of this broken down Ferrari at an auto shop. Its front wheel was bent inwards with extensive body damage, looks like somebody lost control. To buy a Ferrari you need lots of money, like 'Ferrari money', that is a huge salary. Although, maybe you can get this one on discount. 

Damaged Ferrari, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

The old bike path loops around, it used to just end here. Now its a tiny triangle-shaped park with grass and trees in the midst of dense urban Montreal. I removed invasive vines, and put fertilizer spikes on the pine trees over the past few years, and it all looks great now. 

Triangle park path loop, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

The city installed water stations at various points long bike paths. On the right you see traffic along Maisonneuve heading west, and in the background is the Veterans building. It is a good place to stand and paint, there in the triangle park, I have done quite a few from that location. I'll go there when I am tired after work but still feel like painting. 

Water station bike path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

June arrives, painting in Coffee Park

Taking the opportunity to do some painting in Coffee Park after work, here is a scene of a park bench with a lilac bush and commuter train in the background. Pops of red come from clanging train barricade lights up in the trees. I paid attention to make sure the perspective on the bench matched the perspective on the train and tracks. 

Bench lilac bush commuter train, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026
 

Trains don't stop here so I had to memorize details and recreate it best I could. I noticed a strong sun-highlight on the train, bluish shadowing, and tinted green windows. Trees on the other hand don't move, so I had lots of time to paint its bark. I've painted a lot of trees over the years. 

Tree train highlight, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026

Looking up and towards the West I could see the sun descending behind a tall apartment building up on Sherbrooke street. I painted the sky and sun effect first, let it dry while I painted the previous one, then finished with the building, tree and leaves. I twist the brush in my fingers while dabbing in order to randomize the shapes of the leaves. 

Looking up sun branches, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026
 

The train barricade had a creepy monster look to it which I depicted here in a bug-like creature. It does bug you when this thing clangs and flashes light and prevents you from crossing. 

Train barricade bug-like, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2026

Finally a quick painting of some graffiti on a storage shed next to the train tracks. It had other letters there, not PJD, but I usually swap out the graffiti for my own name and the year, 26. Many graffiti artists put the year on their work, which tells you how long its been since Montreal and its municipalities cleaned up graffiti. 

Graff two tracks, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, June 2026